An upswing in housing costs, a renewed concern over real estate agent safety and a tax hike for Boston’s commercial properties. From the wild and wooly world of real estate, here are our Hits and Misses for the week of April 8-12.
Miss: A Dent in the Wallet. This week’s financial data reaffirmed the cost of housing is creating a new wave of grief. The latest Consumer Price Index recorded a 3.5% year-over-year increase, with housing expenses and the price of gas pushing that number higher. Separately, a Redfin report found the median monthly housing payment reached a record high of $2,747 during the four weeks ending April 7, an 11% year-over-year upswing. While President Biden and his apologists keep insisting the economy is in great shape, average Americans are closing the day with significantly less money in their wallets – and with mortgage rates are inching back to the 7% level, the situation could become more problematic in the very near future.
Miss: On the Job Danger. One of the most disturbing stories this week involved a female real estate agent in Florida’s Flagler County who was assaulted at a property where she was preparing an open house. Police arrested 78-year-old Carlos Da Silva and charged him with burglary of a dwelling with assault and battery and simple battery. At a time when the mainstream media is trying to portray real estate professionals as greedy characters who are indifferent to their clients’ needs, this story offers a reminder that hard-working agents often have their safety threatened while working on behalf of their clients.
Miss: How Not to Raise Revenue. Boston is facing the loss of more than $1 billion in tax revenue over the next five years, but Mayor Michelle Wu realizes that raising residential property taxes will not be appreciated by voters. Rather than cut municipal spending, Wu is proposing a temporary hike in commercial property taxes. However, the vacancy rate for Boston’s office properties is near a record high of 25%, and increasing taxes on that sector could result in companies moving out of the city. Clearly, there has to be a better way to run a city than through raising taxes and out-of-control spending.
Miss: Chaos by the Gateway Arch. One of the most jolting real estate stories to come out of the mainstream media this week was “The Real Estate Nightmare Unfolding in Downtown St. Louis,” published by the Wall Street Journal. The article’s subhead sums up the contents succinctly: “The office district is empty, with boarded up towers, copper thieves and failing retail—even the Panera outlet shut down. The city is desperately trying to reverse the ‘doom loop.’” St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones responded to the article with a statement that declared, “I am optimistic about the future of our city and confident in my administration’s ability to continue our focused revitalization of Downtown.” Revitalization? Folks, check out the Journal’s article to see what kind of “revitalization” Jones has accomplished.
Miss: Try to Move and We’ll Sue You. Maybe the strangest real estate story this week is a proposed ordinance in San Francisco that would force grocery stores to give six months’ notice before closing while searching for a replacement to take over their real estate while hosting community meetings to offer updates on their closures. If the stores don’t follow those rules, they can be sued by local residents. San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston proposed the Neighborhood Grocery Protection Act, but he failed to acknowledge the challenges that too many local stores face, most notably rising crime and rising rents. Instead, Preston is blaming the stores for balking at having to operate in an unsafe and unstable environment.
Hit: New Life for a Colonial Tavern. Our sole “Hit” this week goes to the next chapter for the historic building in Annapolis, Maryland, that is home to Reynolds Tavern and 1747 Pub. According to the Annapolis Patch, the property is dated back to 1747 when William Reynolds opened “The Beaver and Lac’d Hat” as a tavern that boasted George Washington among its patrons. Over the centuries, the property was used as a boarding house, a bank and a library, and in 1935 Standard Oil Company tried to buy the land with the plans of demolishing the building so it could put up a gas station. The new owners said they will maintain its current focus, making it one of the nation’s oldest continuously operated taverns.
